D1softball.com’s Graham Hays, Tara Henry and Rhiannon Potkey and Michella Chester of NCAA.com made predictions and broke down some of the biggest storylines for this year’s WCWS, which you can click or tap here to read in full.
Here is a sneak peak at what they said:
What are the 3 storylines that most intrigue you, and why?
Rhiannon Potkey: There are about 15 storylines that intrigue me, but I’ll restrain myself and keep it to just three. One is JMU making the first appearance in program history. It’s always exciting to have new programs reach OKC, and JMU’s journey is a huge boost for mid-majors and emblematic of the increasing parity in today’s game. Plus, the Dukes have great personalities like Odicci Alexander and Lynsey Meeks that will attract even more fans to jump on the bandwagon.
Another is having the three college Olympians — UCLA’s Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles and Arizona’s Dejah Mulipola — all make it to OKC and finish their tremendous careers on the big stage. They are among a big group of seniors that have made a huge impact on the sport in the last five years.
An obvious storyline is whether any pitcher can contain the explosive Oklahoma offense. OU isn’t undefeated, but it’s required for another offense to outscore the Sooners. There will be some quality pitchers in OKC and it will be interesting to see if any of them can make it through that lineup multiple times without suffering some damage to their ERAs.
Graham Hays: Piggybacking off Rhi’s last choice, does an Oklahoma pitcher emerge as the workhorse in Oklahoma City? We didn’t see Giselle Juarez at all in the super regional, while freshman Nicole May pitched superbly in the clincher. So will those two and Shannon Saile just keep sharing the innings? Will any opponent stay close enough for it to even matter who pitches?
Can Alabama stay out of a hole? I think a lot of us are eyeing a potential Friday game between Alabama and UCLA for a place in the semifinals, but the Crimson Tide have some truly ghastly luck in opening games. They haven’t won their opener since 2014 and Thursday has tripped up some very good Tide teams. Arizona relished the opportunity to take an SEC team down a peg last week, and here the Wildcats get another chance.
Who makes the best defensive play? This isn’t so much a storyline as me wanting to see the highlights. The tournament lost some special defenders like Washington’s Sis Bates, LSU’s Aliyah Andrews on the road to Oklahoma City, but we’ve still got Florida State’s Sydney Sherrill, Oklahoma State’s Kiley Naomi, Oklahoma’s Grace Lyons, UCLA’s Briana Perez and so many more. I am looking forward to maximum Twitter highlights.
Tara Henry: All of the above and I’ll add two more. The only two teams to beat Oklahoma this season, Georgia and Oklahoma State, face off in the opening round. Will there be a potential rematch in round two? Mary Wilson Avant shut out Florida in the super regionals and Oklahoma State blasted six home runs last weekend against Texas.
Does Bubba Nickles start for UCLA? The redshirt senior and U.S. Women’s National Team member injured her wrist the first week of April and just returned to the field last weekend against Virginia Tech. Nickles had one at-bat against Keely Rochard, drawing a walk and played defense for the Bruins.
Michella Chester: Rhi, Graham and Tara hit all the bases here. The potential of an Oklahoma, UCLA re-match is monumental, three Olympians competing on college softball’s biggest stage and the huge storyline of Oklahoma’s insanely powerful offense. Possibly the best offense to ever exist in college softball. No pitcher has been able to contain them. This year has the huge added value of so many super seniors and absolute stars on their last go-around. It makes this WCWS so special. I will add two more storylines though on top of those.
The first is Georgia facing off against Oklahoma State. Former Bulldogs Allyson Febrey and Jordan Doggett will be suited up in orange this go-around. Febrey and Dogget transferred to Oklahoma State and will be facing their former teams for the first time. On top of that, Georgia is one of the two teams to advance to the WCWS un-seeded. They went on the road and shut down No. 4 Florida, a team with very strong pitching. The Bulldogs have young players stepping up big-time offensively and Mary Avant Wilson in the circle, dominating. Now they will face Carrie Eberle and two of their former players.
The second I will add is Jessie Harper and the potential of breaking the NCAA all-time career home-run record. Can you imagine reaching that pinnacle in OKC? In front of a full-capacity crowd? Harper now has 91 home runs, just four away from tying Lauren Chamberlin’s record and five away from breaking it.
